5.31.2013

Today's post is just a quick one. I wanted to show you my little sister's nails that Dustin did for her high school graduation! My normal camera was dead at the time so we had to make do with a cell phone camera. Obvious difference in quality!

In keeping with her school colors, blue and gold, this is the final product:

5.30.2013

Ready for part two of yesterday's mani? The final product has an added oversize tribal/floral looking stamp in black. I like that the design covers the nail but still allows for the gradient to show through.

When I get nail art on that I love, I tend to wear it for much longer than a normal polish mani. I don't get bored with it as quickly! haha

5.29.2013

It's been a while since I last posted! My little sis graduated high school this past weekend (grad nails to come!) and I took a little break to celebrate with all the family we had in town.

This is a sponging gradient that used some of the new Zoyas I got from the Earth Day promo. Love these colors together! This is Tallulah, Josie, and Neely.

This is part one of what the final outcome of my mani really was (thus the not so complete clean up). I thought I'd leave you with some suspense! I know...you can hardly take it. ha You'll see the rest tomorrow!

5.23.2013

I don't normally post much about You Mix, the glitter store my husband and I run but we have been working like crazy the past couple weeks to revamp the site and add lots of new stuff! We are very excited about the new changes and would love to have you take a look and tell us what you think. Your feedback means so much to us!

A few weeks ago, I discovered Sugar Coat from the Wet 'n Wild Megalast polish collection. It's not a shade that I would normally pay attention to since it's not what I typically wear, but for some reason it was calling my name then. This is a milky, super-light pink shade that I found very flattering for a more neutral look. I was also very impressed with the formula. Although it's pretty sheer, it effortlessly builds up to a good coverage without streaking.

After about 24 hours of wearing Sugar Coat on it's own, I couldn't help but add something to it. I had these nail stickers around from when I found them on clearance at Target. They were from Loreal's Electric Fantasie collection. They looked cool over Sugar Coat but they perpetually folded on the edges even after smoothing them down repeatedly. Can't seem to escape that issue with nail decals!

5.22.2013

Last week I posted part one of my Different Dimension review and today I've got part two for you!

First, we have Sqaurey Hexy. I layered 2 coats over LCN I love mint. This polish has what looks to be all holographic glitters, so there is some serious bling going on!

Next is the first part of a duo inspired by Toy Story. I love pretty much every Pixar movie, and my 2 year old has recently become hooked on the Toy Story movies, so these 2 polishes make me smile.

This is Reach for the Sky, inspired by Woody! This is one coat over LCN Soft Daisy. Great formula for a yellow base.

The other half of the duo is inspired by Buzz Lightyear and it's pretty accurate I would say! This is ToInfinity and Beyond. I did one coat over LCN Lilac Blossom. I placed the neon green glitters after my one coat just because they are pretty thin and don't like to come out on their own, which is a characteristic of that type of glitter.

So the other cool part of this one is that it glows in the dark! I will come right out and say I suck at taking glow in the dark pics just because it's not something I do on a regular basis, but I think you get the idea!

I hope you enjoyed these polishes from Different Dimension!

Different Dimension can be purchased on Etsy. And to be in the know on all things Different Dimension, like the Facebook page!

5.21.2013

Today's mani is sort of a palette cleanser. I don't usually wear just one polish and call it good, but that was what I was in the mood for! This is Dazzling Pink from the recent LA Girl 3D Effects collection. There is nothing not to like about this gorgeous shade of holo pink!

Have you picked any polishes up from this collection? I highly recommend any of them!

5.20.2013

Today's mani is Essie First Timer with a topper of Just Dance from D&R Apothecary. I pretty much never buy Essie just because their stuff never grabs my attention enough but I have a weak spot for greens and couldn't say no to this one! It's such a pretty shade.

Just Dance is pretty awesome, too. The assortment of rainbow glitters means that this could look great over almost any color! I also love how the black glitters complement and pop against all the other colors.

5.17.2013

I have some fun nail art to share with you today. I have seen this technique done a few times on other blogs and I thought the effect was super cool with a minimal amount of effort. I looked up a quick tutorial, which was helpful in doing this for the first time. All you need are the polish colors you are going to use and a brush like this:

You basically layer the colors over a base color with the fan brush until you get the desired look you want. There is definitely some clean up involved around the edges once you are finished!

So this is the look that Dustin and I came up with!

Colors used: Sinful Colors Neon Melon as a base over white and Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Speedy Sunburst and Brisk Blue. These colors came together in the process to also create some purple and green on the nail!

I am obsessed with this look! I definitely want to play around with some more color combos and see what they look like.

5.16.2013

I have an indie review for you guys today! I have worked with Different Dimension before (you can see those posts *here*), and I am happy to have the chance to do so again. I love the variety that Missi comes up with in her creations. She has a variety of polish finishes, and today I have some awesome holos to share!

You will have to excuse my swollen pregnant fingers...I am hoping I can drink enough water to bring it down some!

Anyway, first up we have Stronger. This is a pale blue holo with a blue flash/sparkle to it in 3 coats. Such a cool twist to add to a holo!

See the blue sparkle? Love!

Next, is Black Dahlia. This is a purple-y charcoal holo with some iridescent color shifting glitters throughout as well as a purple shimmer/flash in 3 coats. Very complex!

And finally, we have Wide Awake. This is a pale pink/almost a light lavender holo with a bright pink holo/sparkle to it. 3 coats.

Again, you can see the pink sparkle best in this photo:

I am a fan of these, for sure. They aren't your typical holos!

Tell me your thoughts on these!

Keep an eye out for Part II of my Different Dimension review soon!

Different Dimension can be purchased on Etsy. And to be in the know on all things Different Dimension, like the Facebook page!

5.15.2013

I got the chance to try out a polish from Bondi New York, which seems to be a relatively new polish brand. I chose Blue Skies, a dusty blue with a hint of periwinkle. I was very impressed with the formula. We all know that pastel shades can be streaky and difficult to apply, but my swatch is only 1 coat! Super impressive!

I am intrigued by what else Bondi New York has to offer based off of the awesome formula for a pastel creme. They come a bit steep at $12.50/bottle (some are currently on sale), but if you get this kind of quality, it seems to be worth it!

5.10.2013

Kind of a late post today. It's been a busy day that's gone by way too fast!

I got my hands on Nails Inc Brighton from the Feather Effects line at Sephora. I had to check 3 different locations in 2 cities coming up empty handed each time before I ordered it online. This seems to be the most popular color because now it's not in stock on the Sephora site either. But never fear! I think Sally Hansen will be coming to the rescue with a line of Feather dupes very soon! Check out more info on that from one of my absolute favorite beauty bloggers Nouveau Cheap.

So, to complement Brighton's fun color combo, Dustin did some sponging with Orly Lemonade and Orly Green with Envy. Brighton definitely has texture to it that an ordinary topcoat won't touch. Unfortunately, I was out of Gelous ( my favorite way to smooth out glitters/texture) so I had to deal with it. haha

The matte bars are definitely a departure from what we are used to seeing in the polish world. What do you think about this look?

5.09.2013

I have had this polish sitting in my untrieds for a realllly long time (the bitter cycle of never not buying new polish!) and finally got around to wearing it recently!

I have been a longtime fan of Lush Lacquer and I wasn't disappointed in Party Hearty. I layered one coat over Sinful Colors Beautiful Girl. My favorite part of this has to be the shimmer in Party Hearty's base...gorgeous!

I don't think this one is available in the Etsy store anymore but there are tons more pretties where this came from!

5.07.2013

I have some swatch pics of Don't Be a Luna-tic from the recent China Glaze Hologram collection to show you today. Since I own the OMG collection, this is the only one I picked up but I could go for a few more after trying this one out! In the bottle, these don't look like much. Even on the nail swatches on the display they didn't look very interesting. Once on the nail, however, it comes alive!

This is what Don't Be a Luna-tic looks like most of the time. A metallic-y finish with a visible rainbow. This photo doesn't fully capture that.

In direct sunlight, or when hit with the camera flash, check out what happens!

I enjoyed wearing this more than I thought I would...can't go wrong with a good holo!

Ok so I wanted to remind you guys of 2 things:

1) My giveaway of Shimmer Polish Kim ends in 2 days! You can enter *here* if you haven't already.

2) I posted about this last night, but just in case you missed it, I updated prices and added new items to my blog sale! There are a bunch of polish and makeup items available. Check it out *here*.